'Call Me Maybe' parodies are everywhere this summer

On its own, "Call Me Maybe" is either the catchy little pop song of the summer or, with it's doe-eyed lyrics and apparent reliance on Auto-Tune despite being sung by someone with a perfectly lovely voice, yet another example of everything that is wrong with the Top 40.

But thanks to the amplification provided by the Internet, it's become another thing altogether: The Meme That Wouldn't Die.

Like the study of the Torah or the line for the Harry Potter ride at Universal's Islands of Adventure in Florida, the revisiting of Carly Rae Jepsen's Canadian pop hit "Call Me Maybe" just doesn't end.

There are parodies, homages, rewrites, celebrity lip syncs and much, much more, played, collectively, many millions of times on YouTube.

The most half-baked Web search you can manage will still turn up "Call Me Maybes" done by the Harvard baseball team, by President Barack Obama (although it's not an official campaign video), by "Star Wars" characters (again, unofficial) and by celebrities including Justin Bieber and Katy Perry.

Regular people do "Call Me Maybes." A whole genre of posters, in the "I Can Has Cheezburger" style, parodies the song and it's simple animating idea: the tentative invitation to a near-stranger to initiate interpersonal contact via a telecommunications device.

Some of these, to be sure, are amusing: the Harvard ballplayers' deadpan (later elaborated on by other college sports teams), the Cookie Monster's sweet take on the tune, the enthusiasm of Perry and Bieber as they celebrate a lesser star's song. Indeed, it was Bieber's early championing of "Call Me Maybe" that Jepsen credits with giving it its biggest boost. Plus, Bieber's lip-dub video of the song, with fellow young stars Selena Gomez and Ashley Tisdale, in February, started this whole meme off, according to knowyourmeme.com.

By now, though, the scales have tipped mightily toward this being the most unimaginative thing you can do with an Internet connection, more so even than Facebook-stalking an ex.

Way back in May, the "Tonight Show" was already doing a parody of the parodies, Mitt Romney and Barack Obama lip syncing the song with moves and a rear-of-the-van setting referencing the collegiate athletes' takes on the song. Lately things have felt really strained: When the "Star Wars" version came out a couple of weeks back, it was fair to say that the force was with the entire genre, and not in the good way.

What's fueling the continuation of the meme is the slow burn done by the song itself. First released last September, it finally hit No. 1 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart seven weeks ago, and it's remained there ever since, the longest-reigning No. 1 since Adele's "Rolling in the Deep."

So what will it take to end the "Call Me Maybe" meme? Three possibilities come to mind:

1. The song finally starts sliding down the charts (this might mark the first time some of us have ever rooted for a Katy Perry tune to get more airplay). 2. A presumptive presidential nominee references it as part of his continuing efforts to relate to regular people. 3. The sudden appearance of a shiny object — a new meme! — diverts the attention of the Internet, usually so much more fickle than this.

Or we could all just decide not to click the next time someone sends a "Call Me Maybe" link. Ignore it, maybe?